Cooling The Classic

[svencool]

Bought an $8 dryer hose and ran it to one of the open vents on the bottom and put the other end over one of my a/c floor vents. It has dropped it over 30 degrees. It should help extend its life...

[ClassicCrazy]

Nice - now if I only had an AC running .
It would be interesting to make note of uncooled temps with and without AC running to see how that load  effects the temperature rise if any .
Larry

[smanners]

Nice.

For my two Classic 150's a simple 5$ USB fan point up through the bottom vents keeps the temperature in check. Not as good as A/C but a nice compromise.

[russ_drinkwater]

One of my mates has installed a small inverter a/c in his charge room to keep his lithiums and charge controllers happy!
He takes his solar really serious!
It only runs during the daytime in the hotter summer months.

[australsolarier]

yes, considering the whole expense of lithium batteries, inverters, solar chargers you can easily run up to 30 000$ AUS. an inverter reversable aircon is 1500$ . has timerr, and you have "free energy" to run the aircon anyway. so if the lifepo4 battery lasts 10% longer, the air conditioner has paid for itself.
additionally much more pleasant to work inside the power room. and keeps out ants and other critters in the summer. inverter and chargers can run on higher power outputs. it will postpone having to dismantle the midnite classic to change the cheap fans. or possibly avoid it at all.
and in cold climate winters possibly warm the power room to keep the batteries warm.

[ralph day]

I took the bottom removable cover off my MX60 and drilled a grid of 1/4 inch holes in it.  This greatly increased the airflow through it and reduced the fan run times and frequency.  After the little fan died I cut the top off the housing and taped a computer fan over it to draw air through the unit (on aux vent fan).  Looks like hell, but works. 

MX is due to be retired.  A Classic 250 on order and some Midnite 300v breakers.  A little re-wiring in the outside combiner box and the 2x panels going to 4x in series.  And the bonus is the Classic will still have 1kw more headroom if I want to put in more pv (currently at 2.1kw).  I have a classic 250 on my Bergey...likes them Midnite products.

Ralph

[russ_drinkwater]

Austral, from memory Kurt also has his 2 x 150's in the room with the lithiums.
The further advantage is as it is a lot cooler the snakes tend not to go there so much!
He installs the split system a/c's himself and so has saved a heap in that regard as the smaller
systems only cost approx $800 AU.

[australsolarier]

russ,
yes kurt has  everything in a small power room. (heard about the snake being rolled up on an inverter for warmth)
and yes the inverter reversable aircon costs about 900$ , i added the installation in my figure, they charge a round figure of 500$. self installation  at the least you need a flaring tool and a vacuum pump to suck the air out of the pipes before releasing the gas.
i have that same model aircon in my house. in the winter it heats the whole house and in summer doing aircon for the whole house. (the house has double glazing and is insulated all around though)

the aircon also keeps the power room dry, when you are in a humid tropical area. i suppose you could also store perishables in the room.

my selectronic inverter has a counter for the changing of the caps. after two years it is still at 0.6%. i am sure this low figure has something with keep the temp at 20 degrees C. (next to low power using) (and low ripple on the DC side)

Kurt and Gordon were a big inspiration. they pioneered float and absorb settings for lifepo4. they were extremly generous with their knowledge.

[CDN-VT]

I just picked up a 9000 BTU seer 23 mini split for my cold storage .
It seems were getting warmer on the wet coast & the trees are dying from that , making a sand box .
I, harvesting & replanting  on the ranch .

I'll be done when I'm dead !

VT

[russ_drinkwater]

I have not spoken to him for a while, but they were of the mind to sell the "mountain retreat" while the
market was still ok.
CDN mate I am poisoning hardwood gums as fast as I can afford it they invade all pasture areas.
What seedling are you planting?

[CDN-VT]

Fir Cedar ,Pine 
6K so far
VT